~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~FROM THE DETROIT MEMORIESEMAIL INBOXOccasionally I receive emails I feel would be of interestto our Detroit Memories Newsletter subscribers. With the permission of the authors, I'll publish them.

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BOB TALBERT (1936-1999)

Hi Eileen,

I'm Bob Talbert's ex-wife, and looking through this list did bring back some wonderful memories, as I now live in North Carolina.

Bob began at the Detroit Free Press in 1968, and was there until he died in 1999, pretty long stint. He was always involved with J.P McCarthy, Bill Bonds, and that crowd, so there is definitely a generation who will always remember him. When he first arrived in Detroit, Doc Greene was the popular columnist, but after his death, I always felt that Bob filled that spot well. Also, we were, at one time, neighbors of Art Cervi (Bozo the Clown). My son practices medicine in Madison Heights, so I continue to have an interest in Michigan.

I am actually in North Carolina, where I grew up, went to several cities before going to Detroit. Bob and I divorced in 1972, but I remained there until 1980 when I went to Asheville, NC, then to Charlotte, then to Mooresville, then back to my hometown of Lexington. Bob and I always remained good friends, even though he remarried, and I continue to be friends with his widow.

I'll continue to check your web page from time to time.

Beryl Yelton

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LADY OF CHARM

I recall The Lady of Charm's assistant on her TV show. Her name was Mattie Mack.

The Lady of Charm (Edythe Fern Melrose) would prepare her dishes making an absolute mess of the kitchen. The camera would then pan across the scene and the Lady of Charm, who then was in her very early 50s, would turn to her assistant and say "Now Mattie, if you will clean up, I will move to the next dish."

My mother always would shout at the TV, "THAT'S WHAT I NEED!"Roy C.Formerly from Detroit & Ferndale, now living in Boynton Beach, FL

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HAVE A HUMOROUS 50s, 60s or 70s STORY ABOUT DETROIT TO SHARE?Send it to me at info@detroitmemories.com. It just might appear in the next Newsletter!

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DETROIT SPOTLIGHT:DAVE BING

Dave Bing is the 64-year-old founder and president of the Bing Group, an automotive supply company and a real estate developer whose latest project is a condo development on the city's waterfront.But we know him better from his days with the Detroit Pistons.

In 1966 Bing joined the NBA as a first round pick of the Pistons, where in his rookie year he scored 1,601 points (20.0 points per game) and was named the NBA Rookie Of The Year.

The next year, he used his sweet shooting touch to lead the NBA in scoring with 2,142 points (27.1 points per game). Bing averaged 20.3 points and 6 assists per game in his 12 NBA seasons, played in seven NBA All-Star Games(1968, 1969, 1971–1976, and winning the 1976 NBA All-Star Game MVP Award), was named to the All-NBA First Team twice in 1968 and 1969, and was elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame.

Bing went on to become a successful businessman, founding The Bing Group(www.binggroup.com) in the Detroit area after his retirement. The company, among other things, supplies metal stampings to the auto industry. At the 1990 NBA All-Star Game, he received the Schick Achievement Award for his work after his NBA career. His number 21 was retired by the Detroit Pistons, and in 1996, he was named as one of the NBA's 50 Greatest Players of all time.In 1989, the city of Detroit announced plans to cancel all sports programsin public high schools as part of a budgetary-crisis cutback.Bing launched a campaign that raised $373,000 to save the programs.As it turned out, Detroit voters approved tax increases,but Bing still had the money turned over to the schools, no strings attached.